Cultural Values and Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers' Use of Prenatal Care

This study examined the associations between Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ and their female family members’ familism values and prenatal healthcare among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. Participants were 204 adolescent mothers between the ages of 15 and 18 (M = 16.19 years; SD = .97) as well as their female family members who were visited in their homes when adolescent mothers were in their third trimester. Adolescent mothers and their female family members reported on their familism values and adolescent mothers reported on the timing of the first prenatal care visit, number of prenatal visits, and barriers to prenatal care. On average, adolescent mothers had their first prenatal care appointment at 11.5 weeks and averaged slightly less than eight prenatal care visits. A number of associations emerged between dimensions of familism and prenatal care. For example, adolescent mothers’ higher familism support values were associated with less barriers to receiving prenatal care, and female family members’ higher family obligation values were correlated with adolescent mothers having their first prenatal visit later in the pregnancy. In the overall pattern, more correlations emerged for Mexico-born as compared to U.S.-born family members. These findings provide insights about the associations between familism and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ prenatal care, suggesting the need for further study of the links between cultural values and prenatal care among vulnerable populations.